PARK CITY — A tough sport was made much more difficult because of heavy snow and unpredictable winds, but for two-time Olympic aerial medalist Lydia Lassila, the weather conditions weren’t the toughest part of Friday’s World Cup competition.
“What a wild night,” said the 35-year-old Australian, who won gold at Deer Valley with a 95.52-point jump to edge U.S. aerialist Kiley McKinnon, who took silver with 95.17 points. “I can’t believe it still. … I’m tripped out.”
Lassila’s victory surprised even her as she just returned to the sport this season after retiring behind her bronze medal performance in her fourth Olympics in Russia.
“I haven’t done a lot of training,” she said. “I really miss my boys. They’re at home — Kai and Alek. I was having a hard time today. I missed Kai’s first day of school; he’s 5. I’m going to miss Alek’s birthday. I was having a weird day today, pretty emotional.”
Despite missing her sons, she said she felt confident, even with the ever-changing weather conditions.
“It was crazy weather,” she said. “I had a different feeling, a good feeling about myself. I was able to use my experience today.”
McKinnon was happy about landing on the podium for the first time this season, especially because this was the first of six Olympic qualifiers for the U.S. Ski Team.
“I tried not to think about that,” said the 22-year-old. “I didn’t want to put any extra pressure on myself. I just wanted to do the jumps I knew I could do. To be on the podium in an Olympic qualifier is pretty amazing.”
China’s Mengtao Xu finished third with a score of 92.35. On the men’s side, China’s Guangpu Qi won his third straight World Cup at Deer Valley with a 128.96. He was so excited that as he skied into the finish area, he jumped up and down waving his arms at the crowd in an effort to encourage the thousands of spectators to cheer.
Belarussian skier Stanislau Hladchenko and Russian Stansilav Nikitin tied in the super final with 114.60 points, but Hladchenko earned silver because his second jump earned a higher score than Nikitin’s.
U.S. skier Mac Bohonnon finished fourth by the narrowest of margins — scoring a 114.48.
“It was a really tough night with the conditions,” Bohonnon said. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen it snow this hard in my life. These conditions made it so tough for us. The speeds were constantly changing.”
The medalists received their hardware from former Olympic CEO Mitt Romney, who addressed the crowd before the awards ceremony.
Lassila’s victory came on the same course that launched her massively successful career, including a gold medal in 2010 and a bronze medal in 2010, this weekend 15 years ago.
“That was a long time ago,” she said laughing. “I was a green rookie. I shouldn’t have been here. I progressed really fast in gymnastics, and after 18 months, found myself at the Olympics. I was wild; I was fearless. I would throw my body around like a rag doll. I was determined and I really wanted it, but I’m different now.”
She said she was enjoying being a business owner and mom, but there was a yearning she couldn’t deny.
“I just had that nagging feeling of maybe I could go for one more,” she said laughing. “This is a sport, once it’s done, it’s done. You never do it again. … I thought long and hard about it. … I have a very supportive husband, and I’ve got an amazing family.”